Anthropogenic Noise Source and Intensity Effects on Mood and Relaxation in Simulated Park Environments.

Research on human caused sound has shown a wide range of effects in outdoor environments as well as laboratory simulations of those environments. Aircraft noise, ground traffic, and human voices have all been shown to lower scenic evaluation ratings and influence individual reports of affective state. However, previous research has relied entirely on pre-post measures of affect and psychological state rather than more momentary assessments. The current project utilized a time series of 15 measurements of overall mood and relaxation collected during a 30-min period during which participants (N = 229) were exposed to randomized volume levels of natural sounds, natural sounds with aircraft noise, natural sounds with ground traffic, or natural sounds with human voices added. Results supported previous findings with significant sound type X volume interactions showing differing rates of decline for both outcomes. Natural sounds did not relate to the diminishing effects observed for the three anthropogenic sound conditions.

Attitudes, personal evaluations, cognitive evaluation and interpersonal attraction: on the direct, indirect and reverse-causal effects.

The authors hypothesized that (1) attraction toward a stranger based on attitudinal similarity is automatic, but cognitive evaluation of the stranger's quality before the measurement of attraction can make attraction nonautomatic or controlled; (2) personal evaluations from the stranger activate automatic attraction and cognitive evaluation; (3) controlled attraction from attitudes and automatic attraction and cognitive evaluation from personal evaluations engender reverse-causal effects (i.e. they mediate each other); and (4) attraction and cognitive evaluation are distinct constructs. Attitudinal similarity between the participant and the stranger or personal evaluations of the former by the latter were varied in Experiment 1 (N=96), and were crossed with each other in Experiment 2 (N=240). Orders of response measurement were either cognitive evaluation followed by attraction or attraction followed by cognitive evaluation. Results confirmed the hypotheses. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Reanalysis and perspective in the heat--aggression debate.

B. J. Bushman, M. C. Wang, and C. A. Anderson argued that a reanalysis of E. G. Cohn and J. Rotton's Minneapolis data shows no inverted-U curvilinear relationship between temperature and aggression. Although B. J. Bushman et al.'s claim of no general inverted-U trend in the data might well be supported statistically, more careful examination of the subset of the data most likely to include the hottest temperatures in the study may offer at least some support for the inverted-U relationship. Aggregating data to describe a general trend minimizes the influence of outliers that may reflect alternative relationships, and such alternatives may be important practically and theoretically.

Examining the effectiveness of the Savvy Caregiver Program among rural Colorado residents.

OBJECTIVE: Alzheimer's disease can be particularly devastating to those living in rural communities where caregivers are typically older and access to supportive services is more limited than in urban areas. The purpose of this study was to examine an ongoing intervention that targets the needs of rural dementia caregivers by providing appropriate education, training, and access to services. METHOD: A total of 54 rural and 42 urban caregivers participated in the Savvy Caregiver Program in their local communities, with training of 1 week, 2 week, or 3 week sessions by staff of the Alzheimer's Association, Colorado Chapter. Participants completed multiple surveys and questionnaires both before the training and at a 6 month follow-up phone interview. RESULTS: Positive outcomes of the training were found at 6 month follow up for both the rural and urban group, including reported use of the printed manual and CD-ROM. Caregivers reported structuring meaningful activities for the person with dementia. Improved depression scores were found for the rural group, and overall support group use increased. DISCUSSION: The outcomes suggest that targeting rural communities for caregiver training can result in more use of supportive services, effective caregiving strategies, and improved caregiver wellbeing, even in low density population areas where supportive services are more difficult to access.

Examination of a psychoeducational intervention and a respite grant in relieving psychosocial stressors associated with being an Alzheimer's caregiver.

Alzheimer's disease can be particularly devastating to those who are caring for their loved one with the condition. There have been recent calls for the tailoring of caregiving interventions to examine outcome differences between groups of caregivers and the reporting of effectiveness via longitudinal and specific outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine 3 interventions (psychoeducational training, a respite voucher-type grant, or their combination) while looking for possible group differences. A total of 367 caregivers participated in the study. Participants completed surveys and questionnaires before the intervention and at a 6-month follow-up. Positive outcomes were found, including lower depression scores, increased support service use, and increased support group usage. Possible effectiveness of the 3 types of interventions and variation among caregiver characteristics are discussed along with implications for future research.